1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information security managing technique for use when a plurality of image processing apparatuses cooperate with each other to process a single job.
2. Description of the Related Art
As to a method of deleting image data stored in an image processing apparatus, there has conventionally been proposed an image forming system in which security level information is exchanged in advance between a plurality of image processing apparatuses linked to each other, to thereby enable the image processing apparatuses to operate at the same security level (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-035269).
Further, as to a method of checking deletion of image data, there has been proposed an image processing apparatus in which the status of deletion of image data is recorded in a job log to thereby enable a user to check the status of the deletion (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-211229).
However, in a case where a plurality of image processing apparatuses execute a single job in a cooperative manner, the methods disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-035269 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-211229 suffer from the following problems:
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-035269, an image processing apparatus as a cooperation source operates according to the security level of an image processing apparatus as a cooperation destination. For this reason, even if the cooperation-source image processing apparatus supports a high-security deletion method, when the cooperation-destination image processing apparatus supports only a low-security deletion method, the cooperation-source image processing apparatus is required to delete image data according to the low-security deletion method. Therefore, in a whole system including the cooperation-source and cooperation-destination image processing apparatuses, information security cannot be fully maintained.
When deletion check according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-211229 is performed in a case where a plurality of image processing apparatuses cooperate with each other to execute a single job, the following problem occurs: In the mentioned case, a cooperation-source image processing apparatus and a cooperation-destination image processing apparatus are generally disposed at respective locations remote from each other, and further, users of the cooperation-source and cooperation-destination image processing apparatuses are usually not near the image processing apparatuses they use. Therefore, each user has to go to a place where is installed an image processing apparatuses on which the user desires to perform deletion check. This is troublesome for the user.
Furthermore, e.g. in a cooperative job in which facsimile image data (hereinafter referred to as “FAX data”) received by an image processing apparatus A is transferred to an image processing apparatus B and is printed thereby, the image processing apparatus A only functions as a mere relay apparatus. Consequently, in many cases, a user of the image processing apparatus A does not know even a fact that the image processing apparatus A has relayed FAX data, and therefore it is more convenient that a user of the image processing apparatus B checks print processing and carries out deletion check using the image processing apparatus B.
On the other hand, in a cooperative job in which image data scanned by the image processing apparatus A is transferred to the image processing apparatus B and is then further sent to another apparatus by FAX transmission, the image processing apparatus B only functions as a relay apparatus. Consequently, in many cases, the user of the image processing apparatus B does not know even a fact that the image processing apparatus B has relayed the image data, and therefore it is more convenient that the user of the image processing apparatus A checks scan processing and carries out deletion check using the image processing apparatus A.
As described above, which of a cooperation-source image processing apparatus and a cooperation-destination image processing apparatus should be selected for more convenient image data deletion check depends on the settings of a cooperative job. Therefore, even if the cooperation-source image processing apparatus and the cooperation-destination image processing apparatus are both configured to be capable of performing deletion check, very little merit can be expected.